Cirque Du Freak: Tempting a Monster
by ChibiChan610
Summary: Set after SoD. We all know the story of Darren Shan; normal boy turned vampire. He tried to change the future, but failed. He thought his pastself would live a normal life. He was wrong. It's worse now then it was before. Believe me, I know. I'm him. SxD
1. Promising Myself

Chibi: Shoot me. The second I got to work on "Go Ask Potter" my plunnie ran out on me. Sigh. Well, Cirque Du Freak is fresh on the brain, so I decided to do an Alternate Story. It's really weird, I know, but whatever. This is going to be my Writer's Block Haven. Whenever I get writers block, or I get tired of my other stories, I will work on this. The chapters in this one are going to be much shorter then those in my other stories, but this is so I can maybe update every week. I'm trying something new, so try not and bug too much about this story. Although I do like where it's going...

**Title:** Cirque Du Freak: Another Story

**Authoress: **ChibiChan

**Rating:** R to NC-17

**Warnings:** If you have not read all twelve books of the original Cirque Du Freak, don't read this! There will be some language, blood, gore, torture, drug use, and plenty of Yaoi.

**Pairings: **It starts off with DarrenXOC but then it switches over to StevexDarren. Enjoy.

**Notes: **This is an Alternate Timeline. This is what happens to Darren Shan after book twelve: Sons of Destiny. Also, this will still hold the main plot of the books, but this time, Darren will be on the otherside. Mr. Crepsley and crew will still be in this story, so fear not.

**Summary: **We all know the story of Darren Shan; normal boy turned into a half-vampire. Darren had tried to trick Des Tiny. He tried to change the future after he was told he couldn't. He didn't know what life would be like for the boy he sent scurrying home to hide under his covers the night he was sent back. He didn't know that he had doomed himself to a worser fate then before. Im that Darren Shan. And this is my nightmare. StevexDarren

--

We all know the story of Darren Shan; A young boy who by fate's hand went with his best friend Steve to a freak show, the Cirque Du Freak and by a sick twist of events became a half-vampire in order to save Steve from dying, who in turn vowed to kill him. After years of happiness and heartache traveling with the Cirque Du Freak, Darren and his sire, Larten Crepsley, traveled to Vampire Mountain where Darren would take his Trials of Initiation - and fail. Darren then ran away to escape the punishment of failing the Trials - death - only to return later to reveal the treaterous vampire Kurda Smault, who wanted to form a union between the Vampires and Vampaneze (A species of vampires who killed their prey) by allowing the Vampaneze to take control over Vampire Mountain. As a reward, he was made a Vampire Prince.

Desmond Tiny, Des Tiny, or just Destiny, had visited then, and annonced that Darren and Mr.Crepsley (along with one other) would become hunters for a Vampaneze Lord, someone who if blooded into a full vampaneze, would cause the downfall of the vampire race. After a long twisting road of strange and cruel events, Darren, Mr. Crepsley, and Vancha March (The final hunter) cornered the Vampaneze Lord and his protectors; Gannen Harst - the brother of Vancha March - and Steve Leopard - Darren's ex-best friend. The Vampaneze Lord died in that battle, along with Mr. Crepsley. And just to add more pain to Darren's heart, Steve revealed (Secretly of course) that he - Steve Leopard - was the true Vampaneze Lord.

For years, Darren just sulked around the Cirque Du Freak, waiting for Destiny to do something with him. Then he would accompany Harkat Mulds, a Little Person (A soul stuck in a grey stitched together body) he befriended on his journey to Vampire Mountain, to a whole other world to discover his true Identity in a Lake of Souls. Not only did he find out that Harkat had once been the vampire traitor Kurda Smault, but they also found out that the cruel desert like wasteland they were sent to was the future! A future where a Lord of Shadows would rule.

After two long years, fate would take Darren back to his home town, where many things had changed. But after a long, sick twisted chain of events took place, Darren would encounter Steve again and hold his son Darius hostage to trade for his own godson Shancus. But Steve hadn't traded. He had snapped Shancus' neck and revealed that his own son's mother was Annie Shan - Darren's sister! - before disappearing. If things couldn't have gotten worse, Darren then was told that only one of two people would become the Lord of Shadows and destroy the world - Steve Leopard, or Darren Shan himself. With this knowledge in his head, Darren made sure his sister and nephew were safe before heading off to fight Steve for the final time.

In that battle, Darren drove a knife into Steve's heart. Mr. Tiny, who had watched the entire thing for amusement, revealed that he was the father of both Darren and Steve! Mr. Tiny tried to convince Darren to accept his place as the Lord of Shadows, but Darren had other plans. With a bit of seemingly harmless taunting, Darren allowed Steve to kill him, ruining Mr. Tiny's plans.

Two hundred years later, Darren's soul was pulled out of the Lake of Souls by Mr. Tiny and turned into a Little Person with a full concious of who he was, even though he had no tongue to speak. After a small warning from Mr. Tiny: "You can't change your future; so don't even try!" Darren was sent back to the night where he had first went to the Cirque Du Freak with Steve. Before he had become a half-vampire.

That night, Darren changed his future. He stopped his past self from listening to the conversation between Steve and Mr. Crepsley. He didn't learn about the true existence of vampires that night. He didn't steal a spider and poison his best friend, thus he never had to become a half-vampire in order to get the antidote. Darren Shan (the Little Person) died that dawn after he had left his stack of diaries with Mr. Tall, the owner of the Cirque Du Freak. Those diaries were to be given to the Darren Shan he had scared off that night when he became old enough.

Little did Darren Shan know however, how bad his past self's life would become the night he ran home full of terror. Little did he know that Desmond Tiny hadn't been lying when he had said "You can't change your future," Darren Shan died thinking he knew the laws of the universe; events could not be changed, only the people in them, but he was wrong. Mr. Tiny had pulled Darren Shan out of the Lake of Souls for a reason. That reason? To erase Destiny's mistake. Des Tiny made a mistake with the first Darren Shan, and he used that mistake to create a new Darren Shan. And by scaring off his past self, Darren did just that.

I'm the new Darren Shan. And this is my nightmare.

--

I ran as fast I could without snapping my legs in half. I could feel wave after wave of pure terror rushing through me and I knew without even thinking about it that I should never had went to that insane circus. I had had a bad feeling the whole night, especially when those strange creatures in blue robes had appeared. And sure enough, one had just tried to eat me! I kept running and didn't stop until I had come across to the arcade, a landmark that signaled I was more then halfway home. I stopped and leaned against the wall of the building, gasping for air. I looked all around me, but didn't see any sign of the creature that had tried to eat me. After a few seconds, I remembered that I was suppose to be over Steve's tonight. Oh crap, my parents were going to...Oh no...what about Steve?? He could probably been in danger right now!

I slumped down the side of the arcade, my head in my knees. What if I never saw Steve again? I knew he had told me to go home, but what kind of friend would actually leave after seeing something like that grey skinned monster? My eyes burned and I knew I was probably going to cry. And sure enough, after a few seconds of thinking about how much of a horrible friend I was, the tears fell. I sat there, crying for what felt like eternity. Maybe if I hadn't been crying so loud, I would have heard the footsteps coming towards me.

"Darren?"

I yelled out in surprise, and jumped back, scurring down the sidewalk crab-style. I heard footsteps following me, but I couldn't see the persons face. I was still crying and I could feel my palms burning from being moved over the concreate so much. I was ready to get to my feet and run, but before I could do that, there was a body ontop of mine. I took in a deep breath, ready to scream at the top of my lungs, but I hand was shoved over my mouth and then I heard his voice.

"Darren! Don't scream! It's me!" I stared in amazement at the boy ontop of me and I immediately wanted to hug him. "Steve!" I gasped after he pulled his hands off my mouth. He stood up and pulled me up after him and I just couldn't find anything good to say. So I hugged him. It was weird because Steve usually never did public affection, especially not with any of his friends. Especially not me of all people! But then again, there was no one around to see, so maybe it didn't count as public affection. But he hugged me back, and all I wanted to do was cry on his shoulder, but I knew he would think I was some kind of baby, so I pushed him away after a few seconds and looked at him.

"Why were you crying Darren?" Steve asked in a voice that was far too gentle to be his own and he took the back of his sweatshirt and rubbed my eyes with it. I sniffled like a little kid and hugged him again. He didn't push me away or tell me to stop acting like a baby like I thought he would. Maybe it was because it was in the middle of the night and no one was around. Maybe not.

"Steve, I was so scared, I didn't know what had happened to you, and then that monster, and -" He cut my rambling off, which I was secretly greatful for. "Whoa, Darren, slow down man. What monster?" He asked, looking at me like I was insane. Maybe I was.

"I don't know...there was this..._thing..._the same ones in the blue robes...it was grey and it had big round eyes, and a big mouth and it's skin was all stitched up...and...and...and it tried to eat me!" I said, looking at the ground. I knew that Steve probably thought I was being a whiny little baby about it, but he didn't see the thing! It was scary...I thought he was going to push me away, but he didn't. He pulled me closer and actually kissed the top of my head. Steve. Kiss. Never. Not in a thousand years. It was really...weird.

"It's ok Darren. I believe you, I saw it when I left. It glared at me and sulked away when I saw him. It was a nasty looking thing. Come on. Let's go home." He grabbed my hand, another unexpected gesture, and he led the way down the opposite street towards his house. I was just so happy he was ok, I leaned against him. We got back to his house in about ten more minutes. All the lights were out, so we climbed up the side of the building and through his window just incase somebody would happen to wake up.

We hurried and changed into our pajamas and crawled into Steve's bed. At every little sound, I would whimper and snuggle closer to Steve. He laughed and just wrapped his arms around me. I sighed in contentment. I felt safe when I was with Steve. I was about to fall asleep when I heard Steve's voice.

"You ever tell anyone about this, I'll kill you." He said and I laughed, the sound muffled by Steve's chest. A few minutes passed, and I was just a second away from sleep when Steve's arms tightened around me and he hissed angrily, "I swear, on my friendship with Darren, I'll kill you Creepy Crepsley." I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I was too out of it to say anything. Instead I snuggled tighter against Steve, enjoying the feeling of him being protective of me.

-

At school on Monday, Tommy and Alan bombarded Steve and I with questions about the show. We told them all about it, Steve even jumping around on the benches outside to demostrate. I laughed with Tommy and Alan. Steve and I never mentioned what was really under the hoods of the strange little people in blue robes. I also kept my promise to Steve that I wouldn't tell anyone about his affectionate side. Mr. Doltan gave Alan the flyer to keep and everything pretty much went back to normal; we had Mr. Doltan twice a day, for English and History, and we played soccor at lunch. I tried to get Steve to tell me what he had done after he had stayed after the show, but he wouldn't tell me, even with Tommy and Alan gone. I swore to him that I would never talk to him again if it didn't tell me, but he still stayed quite. So I stuck to my plan and didn't say anything to him for the rest of the day. He broke down on the walk home from school after Tommy and Alan had parted from us.

"Please Darren, say something!" He pleaded, looking horror struck as I merely turned my head to look at a few birds that had settled in a tree as though I couldn't here him. "Darren!" He whined, pulling on my sleeve like a kid. He stepped infront of my path with his arms outstretched, hoping to stop me, but I just ducked under his arm as though it was done everyday on my way home from school.

"Darren...please..." He whispered, sounding heartbroken. But I wasn't fooled. Steve did this to everyone. He would beg and plead and then put on the kicked puppy look. He grabbed my arm and pulled, but I didn't slow my pace. I could tell he was getting angry with me. "What? So you're just going to ignore me? Just because of last night?" I knew he was on the verge of cracking, I just had to wait it out. And soon enough...

"Alright, alright Darren! I'll tell you, I'll tell you! Just please, talk to me!" He pratically yelled. Smiling to myself, I turned and gave Steve my most sickily-sweet smile I could. "Are you talking to me Steve?" He pouted, but grabbed my arm and dragged me into an alley between two houses. He turned and looked at me, hopefully looking for a way out of telling me, but I wasn't allowing that. "Well?" I prompted and he shook his head miserably.

"Alright...I stayed after the show to talk to one of the performers..." He said, and I could feel my face twist into an angered expression. How dare he stay after and not bring me along?? "Who was it?" I asked, anger evident in my voice. He flinched slightly.

"It was Mr. Crepsley..." I didn't remember who exactly that was, so I just looked at him. He looked a bit scared now. "You know," He continued, "The one...with the spider?"

I felt my jaw drop. Steve knew how much I loved spiders! Why would he do that?! I wanted to ask him, but instead I just turned around and started walking home, really ignoring him this time when he tried to get me to stop.

"But Darren! Listen to me! There's more!" I just continued to ignore him, madder at him then I'd ever have been before. "Darren!" He whispered, trying to keep up with me without falling. "Darren, I wasn't thinking about the spider, honest! It was Crepsly that I recognized!" He turned to him, and by the way Steve winced, I could tell I looked pissed. "Steve..." I muttered, voice dangerously low. "Go. Away." I spoke each word with enough venom to make a taranchula look like a pussy cat. He winced again, but pulled me back when I tried to leave.

"Darren, I knew I'd recognized him somewhere," I tried to pull away from him, but Steve held fast. "Darren, he was a vampire!" I paused for a second and looked at Steve. A vampire? That was the best he could come up with? I sneered at him.

"You know what Steve? If you had just told the truth, I might have thought about being your friend again. But a vampire? That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard, you know vampires aren't real!" I said, pulling away from him. He lunged after me, pulling me under the bridge I had to walk across everyday to get home. He sat there holding me as I struggled, but he didn't let go. Finally I huffed out and let him talk. Not that I payed attention though.

"Darren...I didn't want you there because I knew if you came with me, I wouldn't have a chance." I looked at him questioningly, but didn't do anything. "Darren...I wanted to become a vampire..." I stared at him as though he had lost his mind. He shook his head. "I know it sounds crazy, but I did. And he was going to, but then he said I had bad blood." Steve sneered at this, not even protending to be disgusted. "I couldn't have you there because I threatened him...that if I went missing, you'd be able to tell everyone about the circus and then he'd be caught and founded out." Steve grinned abit there. "So you see? I needed you to be safe."

I just stared at him. Then I sighed. "Steve, let's get one thing straight. I don't believe you. And I never will, so don't even bother," I said when he looked like he was about to protest. "But, you're my best friend, and even though you don't want me to know the real reason you stayed behind, I wouldn't be able to turn my back on you for the world. When you need me, I'll always be there to help." I finished watching Steve's face. He looked greatful after I said I'd still be his friend.

Mistake number one: Promising myself to him.


	2. Tempting a Monster

Chibi: Ok, here's chapter two. So far, only six people have read this. But, I would love if you guys would review. Please! It only takes like two seconds and it makes me feel so much better! Well. Enjoy you guys.

--

A few years passed after the incident at the Cirque Du Freak. I was sitting in lunch, across from Jessica Moore, the most beautiful girl in school, and I was beyond flattered that she had taken an intrest in me. Steve had disapproved and said she was nothing but a skank, but I didn't care. I was a freshman in high school now, and I thought it was time I stopped letting Steve tell me what to do. Ever since we were little kids, he had been the boss. But no more.

So here I am, sitting here, eating a cheeseburger as slowly and as politely as I can infront of her. She smiling and telling me about a a few of her girlfriends and what not. I wasn't really not paying attention because in all honesty, I'm too busy looking at her chest. Her top was low cut and you could pretty much see everything she had to offer. I was in the middle of nodding to something she had said, when a tatter tot came flying from behind her and hit me in the face.

She hadn't noticed, so I just glared behind her, expecting to see Tyler Burtham, a boy that crushed on her, but instead I saw Steve. He was motioning me over, but I shook my head. No way was I going to ditch Jessica Moore to go sit with Steve. I ignored him and turned back to Jessica, who still hadn't noticed anything. She was now talking about a girl she didn't like in her spanish class. Again, I took a slow bite of my cheeseburger, and chewing carefully; mouth closed. I was nodding and making sounds of approval or disproval when I felt a shadow fall over me. I nearly groaned in shame. Steve's hand clasped down onto my shoulder, and Jessica stopped in mid-sentence.

Feining shock, I turned around to see Steve smiling not-so-kindly at Jessica. "I _do_ hate to interupt," he sneered, "but I have to steal Darren away from you for just a second." He said, pulling me up the arm. I meant to pull away and sit back down, but Jessica stopped me. "Oh thats ok Steve, I was going to go over to Katelin soon, but I'll see you later Darren." She said, nearly skipping away from the table. I groaned and turned to Steve, who was grinning like a maniac.

"You moron! What was that for?" I snapped at him, sitting back down to my cheeseburger. He chuckled and slouched down next to me. I knew he didn't like how I never listened to him now. He always tried to give me advice, and whenever I ignored him, he would do everything in his power to mess it up. Just like now.

"Oh come on! Your actually mad at me?" He pouted. I hated his pout. It didn't work for him since we were in school with Mr. Dalton. I just glared at him over my burger, wanting nothing more then for him to disappear. He smiled a too-sweet smile and leaned towards me.

"Trust me Darren, she's no good for you. I know the perfect person for you though." He said, with a weird look in his eyes. I had a feeling he was going to tell me Laura Snow, the fattest girl in the school was in love with me. (Ew.) Before he could, the bell rang, and Jessica returned, asking for me to carry her books. I nodded, and shoved my tray towards Steve.

"Take that up for me please?" I asked, not even looking at him, only at Jessica's perfect blond hair. I followed after her like a love-sick puppy, completely missing the evil glare Steve was sending to the back of her head.

-

It was a week or two after that day that I noticed Steve was acting very strange. It all started when he hadn't shown up to Algebra on a Tuesday. I called him on my brand-new cellphone in gym class. (They never cared what you did in that class) He didn't pick up. I left him a message and called him again at lunch after hanging out with Tommy (who now wanted to be cool, so he makes us call him Thomas in public) and Alan. We were all worried, so we all ditched third period and went over to his house. His mom had gotten a job and a thrift store in town, so no one should have been there.

We tried to front door, and it was locked, so I volunteered to make the treterous journey to the back door. As I climbed over the fence and out of the spiny bushes that rested on the otherside, I subconciously looked up at Steve's window. And what I saw shocked me.

A man, with bright red hair and - wait, purple skin? - jumped from his window. Apparently the man didn't see me. He dashed across the backyard quicker then anyone on our track team. I quickly rubbed my eyes, maybe they were playing tricks on me. Sure enough, when I looked up, nobody was there. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Darren Shan," A voice hissed from behind me. I yelped out in surprise and whirled around looking terrified. It was just Tommy though. His head was poked through one of the wooden boards and he was glaring at me.

"Darren, what the hells taking so long? Hurry up before someone sees us!" He hissed, then disappeared. I clentched over where my heart was suppose to be. The moron had scared me half to death. I huffed and hurried to the back door. I opened it up and ran through the house to let them in. We all went up to Steve's room and went in quietly. There was a lump on the bed which we could only assume was Steve.

All three of us exchanged a look and with big grins, we lunged. We jumped on Steve and bounced on him up and down, shouting for him to wake up. He barely even bothered swatting at us. When he poked his head from under the covers, I thought he was half dead. He had dark circles under his eyes and hi skin was almost paper white. His lips were tinted a darker shade of red then normal, which I thought was odd.

"Steve...dude whats wrong?" Tommy asked, looking over Steve with worry.

"Got the flu, nothing too bad though." He said in a low voice, coughing heavily afterward.

"Not too bad? Steve, you look horrible!" I said, pushing some of his sweat-soaked hair to the side. I motioned for everyone to get off the bed, and when we were off, I situated Steve's covers so that he would be more comfortable.

"Steve, if you were sick you should have called, you know we would have come over to keep you company." Alan scolded. Tommy and I nodded our agreement. "I'll go fix you some soup," Alan said, going down to the kitchen. "Yeah, and I'll get you some medicine from the drugstore. I took some money from my mom last saturday to take Erika to the movies, and I happen to have some left over." He added, blushing when we looked at him strangely. He hurried out of the room to escape our stares. I'm almost ashamed to say we laughed at Tommy's expense when he left.

That left me alone with Steve.

"You need me to do anything Steve?" I asked when he cough again. He looked up at me with that weird look in his eyes, that at this point I just considered normal and nodded.

"Yeah, my neck kinda hurts, you think you could lift my pillow up for me?" He asked. I nodded and leaned over him to tilt his pillow upward. When I moved to pull back, he grabbed my arm. I looked at him in confusion as looked over my arm.

"When did that happen?" He asked, pointing to a fairly new scrap on my forearm.

"Oh, that? I was playing with that new dog that my parents got Annie. She calls him Thorn for a reason." I laughed. Actually, she had named the dog after some character in a book. Either way, we had been wrestling in the backyard and the dog have bit and scratched me all over and left a particuarly bad bite mark on my forearm. Steve stared at it as though it was the most amazing thing in the world.

"Steve? You ok?" I asked when he leaned his face closer to my arm. He jerked away like he had been awoken from a dream.

"O-oh. Uh, sorry Darren, had a zone out moment." He grinned up at me just as Alan walked in with a bowl of soup on a tray.

"Sorry dude, your mom only had vegetable beef. So I put in extra water and fished all the vegetables out. That should make it easier to keep this down." Alan said, setting it over Steve's lap after I helped him into a sitting position. When he tightened his arm around my neck, I thought he was just in pain. I never thought he was sniffing the blood in my veins that was hovering over his mouth. He slowly eased off me after a second or two, and ate the soup.

Tommy returned half an hour later with the medicine. After practically forcing it down Steve's throat, we broke out the movies and settled down for an afternoon of relaxation. I don't think Steve noticed, but I was always aware of his eyes on the rest of us. I had looked over to make a comment to Steve about some line from the movie, but stopped when I saw him staring at Alan's neck. He stared at it like it was the most delicious thing in the world. I thought for a minute I was being stupid, but then I saw him lick his lips.

Quite frankly, it creeped me out.

There were several other times when he would be staring at one of us in some weird way that made him look like a dirty old man. When I would catch him looking at me, I could help repress a shudder. I wasn't even the perverted-ness of it, it was that look in his eyes. They almost seemed red, and clouded over. But I acted normal, not showing any discomfort in being very close to him. Which was a very bad move.

Mistake number two: I tempted a monster.


	3. Not what he Wanted

It was a year later when I made my final mistake. The one that pushed him over the edge and turned him into the violent monster he is now.

It was a Saturday. I was spending it all alone because I had been caught smoking behind the school with Alan and Tommy. It was one of those moments that every person in the world goes through, and then gets caught and grounded for. Whatever.

I was lying on my bed, doing my homework was suddenly, there was a tap on my window. I looked over and saw Steve's head peeking in at my through the glass. I rolled my eyes and let him in.

"Steve, what the hell are you doing here?" I snapped softly. "You know I'm grounded. And you know Annie has a big mouth." Steve just waved me off.

"Nah, I saw her leave with a group of her weird little friends. Besides, this is important." He said seriously. I nodded and sat down on my bed, pushing my books aside. I knew when Steve was serious, and I knew that I needed to listen.

It was sometime in December; it's been so long I don't remember the exact day. But he climbed in wearing a hoodie under a teeshirt and gloves. He pulled his backpack through the window and sat it down under the window. I just looked at him like he was an idiot for a moment.

"Steve. You came over to do homework?" I asked sarcastically. At his confused look, I nodded toward his backpack. He followed my gaze and chuckled.

"No, no. Listen to me Darren. I'm not going back home." He said. I looked at him for a moment for before answering stupidly, "Huh?"

"Darren, I've had enough. Fuck my mother, fuck school, fuck everybody. Well, except you." he added when I gave him a look. "Listen. I already have someplace to go. I'm not going to be homeless or some stupid shit like that. And..." he trailed off. I looked at him expectantly. He moved over to the bed and sunk down onto his knees infront of me. He put on the kicked-puppy look full force and grabbed my wrist in a death grip.

"Darren...I want you to come with me." He said, and I could see him holding his breath. It took me a few seconds, boarding on a minute, to react. Then I did the worst thing I could do. I laughed. Not like full out 'haha, you're funny' laugh but a 'haha, you can't be serious' laugh. I stood up and pulled my wrist away from him.

"Steve...quite bullshitting man. Tell me whats really going on." I said, with a disbeliving ghost of a smile on my face. I was half afriad that he _was_ serious, and that he _did_ want me to run away with him. I wouldn't be able to deal with that.

"No Darren.." he protested. "I'm serious. Please come with me. You're all I've got left and I don't want to lose you." He said, getting off the floor and walking over to me. I just shook my head and looked down at the ground.

"No way Steve. You know I can't. I have my life here." I said, still not looking at him.

"Oh come on! What do you have here that's more important then me?" He snapped suddenly, warning me that the monster was taking over, but I didn't know that then.

"I have Annie and my parents," "They're mean to you." "And Tommy and Alan," "Their expendable." "...Jessica..." "Whoa, what?"

He seemed to have to say something for everyone I listed off. I glared up at him, ready to give him a piece of my mind, until I saw his eyes were red.

"...Darren...are you telling me...that you'd trash our friendship for that bitch?" he muttered, his voice so low and so clear that I felt like I was in a Hollywood horror movie. I couldn't say anything because of his mesmerizing eyes. He took it the wrong way.

"So thats it huh? All those years, all gone because of one little crush?" His voice was getting louder, I knew I had to calm him down. I looked away from his eyes to catch my bearings, and then I tried to calm him.

"Steve, lower your voice, please." I begged, holding up my hands in an almost defensive position. He glared at me.

"No, I will not lower my fucking voice, until you tell me whats so special about her!" He said even louder.

"Dude, my parents!" I yelled in alarm, grabbing his arm to try and snap him out of whatever rage he was in. This usually worked when we were younger, but not now. He wrenched his arm out of my hands and bared his teeth.

"Fuck your parents! Why--!"

"Because I love her alright?!" I blushed horribly after I had said it and I looked at the floor, waiting for Steve to start laughing and making fun of me for it. But he didn't. I looked up at him, not really knowing what to expect. Whatever it was that I was expecting, it wasn't the contorted rage I saw on his face. And that scared the hell out of me. I took a surprise step back, but he was back on me in asecond.

"After everything that we have been through...your going to tell me that you love her? _Her? _When you had me sitting right here?" he growled at me. I was shocked at his implied confession and wanted to say something, but what do you say when your best friend makes that kind of confession? Steve looked so utterly pissed right now, I honestly didn't know what to say.

"Darren...thats fine...no, thats fine. Just, you'll have to find someone else, come on, pack up some stuff, and come on." he said, his shoulders relaxing and his face smoothing out. He turned back to the window to leave, shouldering his backpack as he went.

"No Steve, I...I'm not going. I'm staying here." I said firmly. Then I yelped in complete surprise when Steve lifted me a good foot off the ground and pinned me against the wall. He had moved so quickly, I didn't even think it was humanly possible. I stared into his eyes, terrified. He looked as though he were just going to start puching the hell out of me, but instead, he just dropped me and left out of my window like nothing had happened.

My final mistake: Not giving him what he wanted.

--

Chibi: No, not long at all. I am sorry about that, but it's better if you just expect less and don't get disappointed. When I write longer chapters, it takes me forever to update. And thanks to **QuarantineVirus **who actually reviewed! I'm happy! (dance)

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	4. Vampire

It had been two years since I last saw Steve. I didn't think he would ever come back, but I was wrong. Well, kind of.

He came back to get me.

I still remember that night so clearly. Even after all I've been through, I still consider that the worst day of my life.

I was a junior and that night had been the Junior-Senior Prom, and I was taking Jessica. Yup, we had been dating for roughly a year and a half, and boy was I smitten. Everything that I thought of I could relate it to Jessica. It was wonderful.

I stood in my bathroom, dripping wet, getting ready for my date. I wrapped a towel around my waist and headed to my room, imagining how our date would go, not thinking it would turn out nearly as horrible as it did. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, it took me a few moments to register that Steve Leonard was sprawled out on my bed, lounging with his arms behind his head. His hair was messy and he was grinning at me, waiting for my mind to come back to the present. Usually, one feels uncomfortable when they are half naked infront of someone who you haven't seen in two years, but at this point, I was so happy, I couldn't hae cared a less.

"Steve!" I exclaimed shutting my door so my parents or Annie wouldn't come in. Steve responded in a similar way and got up from the bed. Snorting in mere disbelief that he had come back (much less climbed through my window and laid in my bed like no one could walk by and see him) I threw my arms around his shouders and hugged him. He had gotten so much taller then me, it was insane. He towered a good five inches above me. His chest moved as he chuckled and he hugged me back. He squeezed so hard I actually felt my back pop.

If I had been paying attention, I would have noticed how discolored his skin was, or that his eyes were tinged red, or even that his face was buried in my neck. I pulled away from him, missing how his hands lingered on my hips, and asked him how he'd been.

"Eh, not too bad." he laughed, looking me up and down. "Well well. Look at you. Finally got rid of that baby fat eh?" I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my arms, making me look like a kid again. I'm sure he was amused; he got that half-smirky kind of grin that twitched on his face when he was truely amused. But there was something else in his eyes that made the hair on my neck prickle. It felt so self-concious of being practically naked in front of him.

"So where have you been?" I asked quickly, moving over to my closet where I had my clothes for the evening hung out. I scurried into the pants as fast as I could without looking distraught; Steve was good at telling when something was bothering me, hopefully he was rusty after two years. When I turned around, Steve was louged back on my bed.

"Well, if I told you that, two things would happen." He said with a mischevious grin. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"One, you wouldn't believe me. Second, I'd have to kill you." he said grinning. I shivered abit when he said he would kill me. Something in his tone assured me that he would. Of course at the time, I thought that was completely stupid. I mean, why would my best friend want to kill me? Well, now I could think of a few good reasons.

"Fine," I sniffed, trying to play it off so he would start to analyze me. "Don't tell me. But you'd better hurry and get out, I have to be somewhere." I said, rooting around for my shirt.

"I just got here, and you're leaving already? You're a nice friend." He was joking and I could tell without turning around.

"You should go see Thomas or Alan-" "Whoa, whoa whoa. Thomas?" He asked snickering. I laughed with him.

"Tommy insisted we start calling him Thomas because it made him sound more grown up." Steve laughed again and waved his hand for me to continue. "Well, anyway, go visit one of them for now. I'm taking Jessica to prom-"

"You're still going out with her?" Steve asked, a sneer in his voice. I knew it was a topic I didn't want to continue on, so I changed it. "Yep. You have a girlfriend yet?" I could see him pondering whether or not he should take the bait. Thankfully, he did.

"Heh, no, but I've got my eye on someone." He said lounging back on my bed, watching me get dressed. I know it sounds weird, but at the time, I didn't think anything of it. I mean, if your best friend appeared after two long years of being gone, would you really even bother to put alot of thought into why he was staring at you? Well, I didn't. Because in all truth, I was staring at him too. Not in the same way of course, but you get the point.

Soon enough, I was dressed. I turned towards Steve grinning. "So, how do I look?" I teased him. He put his finger to his chin in mock thought, but his eyes never left me. "Gee, I don't know Darren. I think you should show a little more skin." he purred in what I thought as a teasing tone and tossed a pillow my way. I caught the pillow and laughed. Steve stood and walked to the window.

"Oh! Steve, wait. I have something for you. It was a birthday present, but you left, so..." I trailed off, turning to face my dresser. For some reason, I wasn't expecting what happened next. Steve had moved quicker then ever, pressing against my back, his arms braced on my dresser, keeping me boxed in.

"S-st-steve?" I stammered. My breath had hitched, a sure sign he had scared me. He knew it and I knew it. But I wasn't sure why until later. My instincts as new-found prey kicked in telling me to run, because there was a predator right behind me, ready to kill me.

"St-Steve? Come on, get off." I tried to laugh it off, but my voice was shaky, not at all having the effect I would have liked. I felt him press closer; the hair on the back of my neck prickled when his nose ran through my hair, smelling it. I hadn't felt too uncomfortable at that exact moment. I tried to shimy away, but that just made him groan. I froze.

"Steve? Um. C-could you..._please_...let go..." I tried as hard as I could to keep my voice firm, but I could tell it was a loosing battle.

"Hm," He made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded something like he was thinking about it. But then his hips were pressed against mine, and suddenly, that new Fight or Flight instinct kicked in. Obviously, since I had no where to run, I whirled around and threw the quickest, and hardest punch I could. It connected right with his cheekbone. He stumbled backwards slightly, I could only imagine because he was shocked, but it gave me enough room to run.

Before I could get anywhere however, Steve was on me. I couldn't even blink; he had me thrown down on the floor, his body perched on my hips. I tried to say I was sorry for hitting him, but before I could even open my mouth, he was wailing on me. Or at least it felt like that; he really only punched me in the face twice, but my jaw ached like he had spent an hour hitting me.

"Darren..." he growled, his voice so low, I could barely hear him. "Don't..._ever_ strike me again..." he spoke in a strange way, but all I could focus on was the pointy fangs poking out from under his lips.

"Oh dear God," I whispered, terror seeping into my body. All of a sudden, his pale, purplish skin and his red-tinged eyes. I could feel my heart beating faster as one word jumped into my mind.

_...Vampire..._

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I am SO sorry for the wait! This was not intentional, but there have been a ton of family problems that just will not go away. I do plan on getting back to this though, so fear not!


	5. Introductions

Never in my life had I felt as terrified as I did at that moment. In that one second, everything that had happened before now flashed in my mind. I wanted to hit myself. It all made sense. I had been dangaling a chunk of bloody meat right in front of his face for years, and not once had I suspected a thing. What a moron I turned out to be.

"Ahem. My Lord?" A voice asked behind Steve. I jumped...well, as much as I could under Steve. I wanted to turn at look at this new person, but Steve held my eyes, and I couldn't look away as the blood-red color seeped into his pupil.

"What?" Steve snarled out at the person, his eyes never leaving mine. I wanted to curl away from him, but his eyes pinned me like darts to a dartboard. I would have given anything to have even flinched at that moment, but Steve's eyes were just too captivating.

"My Lord, your teeth are terrifying the boy." the unknown speaker said lazily. Steve broke eye contact then, in favor of glaring over at the mystery person, and I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my head. As soon as my body allowed, I was struggling to get away from the _vampire_ sitting on top of me. Then my logic side kicked in. There was no possible way Steve was a vampire. It just wasn't possible. He was completely fucking with my head. After all, that's what Steve did best. There had to be an explaination for it all. Maybe a weird disease?

But when he looked back at me, I thought I had lost my mind. His fangs were gone. Like they had never existed. I paused for a few seconds, staring at Steve's mouth in confusion. Steve just smiled at me (no fangs) and stood, pulling me to my feet.

"Darren, this is Gannen Harst," Steve said, motioning to one of the four men now standing in my room. I pulled my eyes away from the other three and stared at the one Steve had pointed to. He wore an emerald cloak, a sword at his hip, and the strangest hair I had ever seen. In fact, all of them had strange hair. The skin on each of them varied in different shades of purple, while they're hair was different shades of red.

Gannen stretched in hand out to me, but I didn't even consider taking it. Instead I just gave a nod of acknowledgement, and observed the others. Two were flanked at my bedroom door, the other behind Gannen. I tried to stop myself from taking a step back.

"My Lord, we should be going. We cannot stay til dawn." Gannen said, glancing me over. I flinched. He smirked. I tried to take a step back, but Steve's arn caught me around te waist. I wanted to cry at that point. I felt like I was going to die.

"Of course. Darren, be cooraporative for once and pack up anything you'd like to take with you." Steve said, stepping around me so I could get to my dresser. I eyed him suspiciously.

"Why? Where are we going?" I asked. Steve laughed.

"You're coming with me of course!" he said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I glared of course.

"And if I tell you that I'm not going, just like I did a year ago?" I challenged him. Honestly, I don't remember when I got my nerve back, it had felt good I assure you. Of course two seconds later, I regretted it. Steve's spine went ridgid, and from the grins on his purple-skinned companions faces, I shouldn't have said that. But when Steve turned around, he was merely smiling at me.

"Well then Darren, I'll just throw some of your clothes into a bag, and Gannen here will knock you out." he said sweetly, and I couldn't help but to believe him. I decided to roll my dice one more time.

"I'm sorry Steve, but I _do _have my date with Jessica." This time, I saw his hand twitch, like he wanted to choke someone. Something told me I had rolled snake eyes.

But Steve didn't look at me. He stepped up close to Gannen and muttered something in his ear. Gannen nodded, and turned to the one behind him and said something. The guy behind him looked like he wanted to protest, but Gannen waved him off. Steve turned and smiled.

"Sure you can go on your little date," he stepped very close to me, although his body didn't touch mine. He leaned in and pressed his mouth to my ear. "But I want you home at a decent hour." I snorted.

"Oh? So are you my mother now?" I asked, sneering at him. Sooner then I could blink, Steve's hand was around my throat, squeezing so hard, I saw spots in my vision almost instantly.

"No," he murmurred. "I'm your master." And with that he dropped me to the ground. After I had gotten rid of most of the dizziness in my head, I looked up to snap at Steve, but he was gone.

They were all gone.

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Eek. Horribly short, but whatever. I hope now everything is getting a bit more exciting eh?


	6. Warnings

It has taken me quite some time to gain my barings again. My thoughts were jumbled and confused and my brain did not have to the power to process them. For a long while, I kept moving like I had never seen Steve that night. I had gotten dressed, eaten dinner, argued with Annie over who was better; Storm or Rogue, and even convinced dad to let me use the car.

But when I stepped outside, into the cold, dark night, everything came crashing down on me. Steve had been there. Steve was a _vampire_. Steve had said that he was my _master_. It was obvious that something had happened to Steve. I was sure it was only a mental thing; after all, his mother hadn't been there for him, his dad was never in the picture, and he ran away at sixteen, abandoning his friends and anyone who cared about him, for what? A bunch of freaks like Gannen Harst, who believed themselves to be vampires? Or maybe they were just druggies. It was always possible.

I was paranoid. I knew that. The second I heard the bushes rattle from a stray cat, or an owl call out into the night, I was terrified. I had almost turned tail and ran back into the house to climb in my bed like I use to when I got scared from one of Steve's scary stories. But I was determined to convince myself that I wasn't being stalked by his insane ex-best friend. Regardless that it was a high possibility.

So there I was, standing outside of Jessica's house, knocking casually on the door, but turning to look over my shoulder everytime I had the chance. The hairs on my back were prickling, warning me that someone was watching me, and I had an uncanny feeling that Steve was lurking in every bush that I saw. After a few minutes of waiting, Jessica came out in the most beautiful blue dress I had ever seen, and for a moment, just a moment, I forgot about Steve.

I led her down to the car my dad had let me borrow. I wasn't sure of it's make and or model, as I had never been good with cars. Steve had though...I stopped the thought right there. I did not want to think about Steve, there would be plenty of time to break out the garlic once I got home. Opening the passanger side door for her, she smiled her coy little smile and slipped in. My stomach was fluttering happily in my belly, and I couldn't help but feel absolutely giddy.

Suddenly, I had felt as though the air had been knocked right out of me. There had been a small gush of wind, it barely had ruffled by coat, but it carried the most disturbing and spine-chilling voice I had ever heard.

"_Keep her close Darren,"_

I wasn't even sure what that had meant, but it scared the hell out of me. I turned sharply, expecting to see Steve's grinning face, but there was nothing there. I felt Jessica's hand on my arm.

"Darren? Love, what's the matter?" she asked, her voice soft and calming. I turned and smiled at her. "Nothing, just thought I heard a squirrel." I shut the door then and clammored onto the driver's side. Glancing nervously around one more time, I climbed in and started the engine. The sudden roar of the engine put my mind at ease for a short while. In that car, with that threatening growl, I felt much safer. Without much more thought, I gripped Jessica's hand and began to drive.

--

The dance had lasted for over two hours, maybe even three, I didn't really pay attention, we were having so much fun on the dance floor, but it had been amazing. Tommy had been there with Erika, and Alan had invited a pretty girl named Elenor. It had all been fun and dandy. Even after we had left the warm school gymnasium for the cool may air outside, Steve had not once crossed my mind. In fact, it all seemed like a bad dream when I really thought on it.

Going our seprate ways, Jessica insisted that we go to McCollor's Ice Cream Parlor, which was right around the corner from the school. That was fine with me, I didn't mind going to get a sundae, after all, the parlor was only half a block away, so we didn't need the car. Instead we walked the half block and settled into a booth. I ate a chocolate swirl ice cream, while she had a postachio sundae. Truely she was beautiful, even with green ice cream smeared on her cheek. She had officially taken my heart and tucked it away in that pearl colored clutch of hers. After we had left, we walked back toward the school to retrieve the car. On our way, we passed a dank little alley, which ironically, I should have seen coming, but noo, I just had to be naive didn't I?

Without warning, two pairs of hands reached out from the darkness and grabbed us. A hand clamped over my mouth, as well as hers, and another over my arms and around her waist. I struggled as hard as I could, managing to land a kick on the one holding me, but besides a grunt of pain, I didn't get anything. I heard an unfamiliar voice curse, and looking over, I saw that Jessica had bit her assailant and was ready to scream at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately, the man who she had bitten smacked her across the face, cutting off any scream that she could have produced.

"Hey!" I yelled around the hand over my mouth. "Don't hit her!" I tried to lash out again, but to no avail. I could feel the grip on my arms slipping, and if this was going to be anything like when Steve had had me pinned, I was going to have no trouble at all knocking this guy flat on his back. Just as I got one arm free, and my hand curled into a fist, I felt a hand grab my wrist. I tried to turn to see who had grabbed me, but I couldn't see anything in the blackness.

"Careful. He may not look it, but Darren has one hell of a right hook. Believe me, I've felt it." I heard a voice grumble and my spine went ridged with fear. Even though I couldn't see in the darkness, I knew that bone-chilling voice. It was none-other than Steve. I was scared, and not for myself; I was scared for Jessica.


	7. My Hero?

Chibi: Dude...I love you guys :D I've been on like an updating spree tonight! So sorry guys, you all have every right to beat me for this one. Hope I made it worth your while though ;)

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Larten Crepsley was a patient man. Or at least he like to think himself to be one. That why he didn't strangle any of the Princes when they declared that he and Vancha March, and the female vampire Arra Sails were to go and retrieve a boy named Darren Shan. Of course Des Tiny had been the reason behind it all (wasn't he behind everything?), but now that Larten had actually made the journey, he couldn't understand any of this noncense.

The trio had been told about the Vampeneze Lord, a vampeneze who was so powerful, he could command every vampeneze to do his bidding. He would also bring down the vampiric world and bring all vampires to ruin. However, the vampires were assured by Des Tiny that there was hope. And this hope came in the form of a boy named Darren Shan. He was a mere human boy, so no one could even begin to understand why on earth a human would be the one to save the vampiric race. But on the other hand, you never know with Des Tiny. He said that only three warriors from each side would play a major part in the war, and if they wanted to save themselves some trouble, they would find Darren Shan before the vampeneze did. Obviously it was implied that the boy would be of some use to the vampeneze, and so Larten had fully well accepted that this was going to be a neccessary trip.

What he didn't count on was the insanity of his travel mates. Vancha like to walk in the sun, and Arra just looked for a fight, everywhere she went. He wanted to kill each of them for various reasons throughout the entire time it took them to find Darren Shan. Vancha smelled like decaying rats and Arra was so fridged you could throw her in a volcano and still get nothing. Each time Larten wanted to ram his head into the ground, he always used that brilliant patience to not kill them.

And even though it took a long time, they found him. They found Darren Shan. And boy was he popular. They could never find a moment to capture the boy. He was always with someone, een as he slept. Whether his sister crawed in his bed, or if he just stayed up too late, no matter what, for a whole solid week, they didn't have an opening. Finally Vancha and Arra both had been fed up and decided they were going to capture Darren that night, or they were leaving. Except they decided not to wake Larten when they left.

So Larten, with all his patience, woke up to an empty cave, two bare coffins, and a clock that said it was almost ten. Now Larten never slept that late normally, but lord, stalking a child never took so much out of him in his life!

So of course he rushed off to find these two imbeciles before they did anything stupid. And of course he was too late.

They had decided to grab Darren Shan and some woman he must have been with. Arra had Darren, and Vancha had grabbed the girl. He saw Vancha slap the girl and nurse his wounded hand afterwards with the slightest of pouts on his face (which made him laugh, he won't lie). But Arra had been overpowered by Darren Shan and just as he was about to whack her right in the face, Larten managed to grab the boy's wrist and pinned his arms before he could do anymore damage.

And thats when he caught the smell of vampeneze.

"Careful. He may not look it, but Darren has one hell of a right hook. Believe me, I've felt it."

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Even as I heard Steve's voice, I couldn't find him. I tried to fight off the guy that had grabbed me, but it was obvious that he was stronger than the other one. I fought for another second, before I felt someone hiss in my ear. To say the least it scared me half to death.

"Larten Crepsley..." I heard Steve say. Was that who was holding him? "My, my. I never thought I'd see the day..." Steve taunted.

"Steve!" I yelled into the darkness where I couldn't see. I knew the bastard was there. I still didn't know what was going on at the time. I didn't know that the vampires that I just ambushed me were the ones I would be relying on to save me. I just knew I had to save Jessica, who at this point had curled up into a ball against the ally wall, staring up at me, looking for some kind of answer. And I didn't have one.

But suddenly I knew that she was in danger. We all were.

Two figures had practically coming out of no where. One went straight for the person holding me, and the other...the other went for Jessica. I tried to shout some warning to her, anything but the vampire that I recognized as Gannen Hurst had already grabbed her by the throat. In one swift movement that I barely even saw, he scooped her up and...and he bite right into her throat. I didn't know what happened after that. I had been thrown to the ground by the guy who had been holding me.

I don't really remember much of anything. I just remember hitting my head very hard against something. Maybe the wall, maybe the ground, maybe even a pipe or something. But I knew that the last thing I saw before my life turned into a battlefield of waste and damnation, was Steve's face. And as he picked me up and carried me off, all I could remember was that he looked terrified everytime he looked at me.


End file.
